Holland confirms that Hudler will play in KHL

[StevieY9802 6]

As opposed to losing with that nice puck possesion and being nice and saying "Good game" after the whistles right?

Obviously thats not what you said, but that wasnt what I said in your quote either. I'd much rather see the Wings lose and not be happy about it, then just skate away without doing anything about it all the time, espicially in games where they get beat up or disrespected. Because the Wings will still do alot of winning in the coming season, losing little Jiri Hudler wont affect us very much, despite his 20 goals and awesome 57 points. If the Wings sharpen up defensively and become tougher to the play, they wont need to score as much as they did last year. Or maybe you enjoyed last years regular season? Winning games off of pure offence, nothing else, offence. It doesnt win you the Cup, as was envident in the finals, our dynamic offence that we're losing such a huge part of this off season, managed 2 goals in the Final 2 games of the Stanley Cup finals. I'm not worried, not one little bit.

I sure hope they are tougher to play against. I HATED last regular season. how many times did they blow leads whether to win or lose. The Pitt game in November and the Calgary game, I think it was in March, were the two best examples. They had those games won in the 3rd and blew big leads. I hope losing all these guys, and how they played last year, toughens this team up. They need it.

[Snazzy 0]

Helm for Kopecky is awesome and an upgrade...

But to lose Hossa, Hudler and Samuelsson -- and replace them with what? Leino so far? That really sucks.

Any logical Wings fan knew that Hossa was gone if Holland signed Zetterberg. And when he signed Franzen, Hossa's fate as a Red Wing was forever sealed. So in all fairness we didn't lose Hossa, he was just a fluke and a luck that he was here. Nobody, including you expected Hossa to sign a one-year deal as a DRW (according to your posts in the official Hossa signing thread from last year). So again, we didn't lose something that we didn't expect, he was a bonus, that's all he was... And I am sure you realize that we won a cup without him. In fact, I think we would have won a cup in 09 without him, because that money might have been spent on someone clutch for the finals.... but that's water under the bridge.

Holland signed filppula for this reason. He is suppose to be one of our role guys that never had his real chance yet. Now that Hossa is gone, he gets to show us what he is made of (see the Franzen situation).

Helm isn't Kopecky's replacement, Abby will be if he plays. Or even Ryan Oulahen will be. Kops is easy to replace, he was a tangible.

Filppula, Helm, Leino, Abby, Oulahen and wiggle room w/ a defensemen to trade, we're golden. I can imagine there's about 26+ other teams that wish they had our problems.

[egroen 384]

It is one thing to say the Wings will "play better defensively", but so far Holland has not backed it up with a single move.

Lidstrom, Rafalski and Osgood are all a year older and Howard is a downgrade from Conklin. Ericsson is not better defensively than Lilja.

Letting 80 goals go does not by default upgrade your defense.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

It is one thing to say the Wings will "play better defensively", but so far Holland has not backed it up with a single move.

Lidstrom, Rafalski and Osgood are all a year older and Howard is a downgrade from Conklin. Ericsson is not better defensively than Lilja.

Letting 80 goals go does not by default upgrade your defense.

This is something we can agree on. Holland needs to know if Lilja is going to be available and healthy for next season, and Ozzie needs to have a rebound season. Wouldnt kill Mike to change the pairings up either.

[egroen 384]

Any logical Wings fan knew that Hossa was gone if Holland signed Zetterberg. And when he signed Franzen, Hossa's fate as a Red Wing was forever sealed. So in all fairness we didn't lose Hossa, he was just a fluke and a luck that he was here. Nobody, including you expected Hossa to sign a one-year deal as a DRW (according to your posts in the official Hossa signing thread from last year). So again, we didn't lose something that we didn't expect, he was a bonus, that's all he was... And I am sure you realize that we won a cup without him. In fact, I think we would have won a cup in 09 without him, because that money might have been spent on someone clutch for the finals.... but that's water under the bridge.

Holland signed filppula for this reason. He is suppose to be one of our role guys that never had his real chance yet. Now that Hossa is gone, he gets to show us what he is made of (see the Franzen situation).

Helm isn't Kopecky's replacement, Abby will be if he plays. Or even Ryan Oulahen will be. Kops is easy to replace, he was a tangible.

Filppula, Helm, Leino, Abby, Oulahen and wiggle room w/ a defensemen to trade, we're golden. I can imagine there's about 26+ other teams that wish they had our problems.

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights?

The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit?

90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal.

The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08.

2nd line Filppula + Helm + Leino + Oulahen + Moen/whomever will net you about 30-35 goals if you are lucky.

Edited July 8, 2009 by egroen

[Guest E_S_A_D]

The funniest part to me is how royally Hudler's timing of this decision screwed the Wings.

Had we had known he would've done this we would've had the potential capspace shift to match Hossa's offer with Chicago or come close enough to stay.

Just goes to show... money talks.

I'm glad he's gone, I hate to say it because I know there's lot of Jiri lovers here, but if I saw that GROWN MAN face wash a big guy then crumble to the ice when struck I would've thrown up. Enjoy the ballet league in the KHL Jiri!

[Snazzy 0]

It is one thing to say the Wings will "play better defensively", but so far Holland has not backed it up with a single move.

Lidstrom, Rafalski and Osgood are all a year older and Howard is a downgrade from Conklin. Ericsson is not better defensively than Lilja.

Letting 80 goals go does not by default upgrade your defense.

What I'm reading in this post is our young guys should never get their chance. Let Howard sit in the AHL and rot. Ericsson, despite not playing a full season in the NHL is not going to be better than Lilja.

btw, Wings just got significantly younger for next season...

<doom-and-gloom> that's all I am reading from you </doom-and-gloom>

[StevieY9802 6]

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights?

The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit?

90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal.

The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08.

Wings also won a cup with better team D. Regular season 08: 179 GA. Regular season 09: 240 GA. Even if Samuelson and Hudler stayed they couldn't make it through another year of that kind of D. It's not just on D, or not just in goal. It's the entire team defensively needs to be better. I'm not jumping ship yet thinking they are done.

[Guest E_S_A_D]

I don't get people's obsession with the loss of 80 goals. Did that mean anything in the playoffs? No, do the soft players excel? No. We'll make the playoffs and if they can fill these gaps with a physical gritty forward with a scoring touch, then we'll be all set.

Dan Cleary > Jiri Hudler & Marian Hossa IN PLAYOFFS.

Regular season means $hit ladies and gentlemen.

[egroen 384]

What I'm reading in this post is our young guys should never get their chance. Let Howard sit in the AHL and rot. Ericsson, despite not playing a full season in the NHL is not going to be better than Lilja.

btw, Wings just got significantly younger for next season...

<doom-and-gloom> that's all I am reading from you </doom-and-gloom>

No, I am saying we may just be looking at the worst off-season for Holland ever.

It's disappointing.

I did not think he would magically sign Hossa + Franzen +Hudler and still retain Filppula like some did, but I quite frankly did not think he would let Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler all walk for nothing.

That is quite simply a failure.

[egroen 384]

I don't get people's obsession with the loss of 80 goals. Did that mean anything in the playoffs? No, do the soft players excel? No. We'll make the playoffs and if they can fill these gaps with a physical gritty forward with a scoring touch, then we'll be all set.

Dan Cleary > Jiri Hudler & Marian Hossa IN PLAYOFFS.

Regular season means $hit ladies and gentlemen.

I think you are going to find the regular season starts taking on a bit more meaning, with every single team in the Central improving this year, once again.

[Guest E_S_A_D]

No, I am saying we may just be looking at the worst off-season for Holland ever.

It's disappointing.

I did not think he would magically sign Hossa + Franzen +Hudler and still retain Filppula like some did, but I quite frankly did not think he would let Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler all walk for nothing.

That is quite simply a failure.

Even though I'm glad these soft players are gone. I agree this is Kenny's worst season in Detroit in his tenure.

[StevieY9802 6]

No, I am saying we may just be looking at the worst off-season for Holland ever.

It's disappointing.

I did not think he would magically sign Hossa + Franzen +Hudler and still retain Filppula like some did, but I quite frankly did not think he would let Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler all walk for nothing.

That is quite simply a failure.

The not getting comensation for Hossa rights I give you. But what was he supossed to do about Sammy and Hudler. Sammy got 2.5mil X three years, Wings weren't gonna do that. And Hudler jumped ship to play overseas tax free how do you stop him and get anything in return?

[titanium2 867]

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights?

The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit?

90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal.

The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08.

2nd line Filppula + Helm + Leino + Oulahen + Moen/whomever will net you about 30-35 goals if you are lucky.

I thought Holland would've gotten compensation if Hossa signed with LA and then he didn't.

[Guest E_S_A_D]

I think you are going to find the regular season starts taking on a bit more meaning, with every single team in the Central improving this year, once again.

That's actually a very good point.

Chicago will be predicted now by many to be the team to beat in our division.

[FedorovMan91 1]

well, this is a bit disappointing; looks Hudler went to the KHL for money. I think Holland might throw around 3 million cap number. Still, he has a slight chance to bring back Hudler but I don't see that can happen after the deal is done.

I think this off-season is Holland's worst off season with the good top picks in the draft. I said this before but we will make the playoff but not going far. I don't see this team can go thorugh over the 2nd round

[Glubki 17]

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights?

The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit?

90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal.

The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08.

2nd line Filppula + Helm + Leino + Oulahen + Moen/whomever will net you about 30-35 goals if you are lucky.

Reports have said that the Wings would have gotten compensation if he signed with L.A. - you don't deal the negotiation rights for someone like Hossa to your division rival. I said it a few pages back and I'll say it again. If Hudler does go to Russia this was a bit of payback for his limited ice time over the past two seasons. He's full of s*** when he says he didn't want to be traded and only found out about Russia a few days ago. He now has the Wings in a position where they can't sign and trade him and one in which they get nothing back in return for his value as an asset.

I've been questioning some of Holland's moves the past 3-4 years - especially the no trade clauses and Flip's contract at the time but this is not a red mark on him as a G.M. more of a stain on Hudler's rep....

[egroen 384]

The not getting comensation for Hossa rights I give you. But what was he supossed to do about Sammy and Hudler. Sammy got 2.5mil X three years, Wings weren't gonna do that. And Hudler jumped ship to play overseas tax free how do you stop him and get anything in return?

He could get on the same page as Babcock and offer Samuelsson the Hudler money and then trade Hudler's rights.

[Snazzy 0]

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights?

The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit?

90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal.

The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08.

2nd line Filppula + Helm + Leino + Oulahen + Moen/whomever will net you about 30-35 goals if you are lucky.

There was a thread up recently from a source (mlive?) that stated that Holland gave permission to Hossa to talk to other teams without asking for anything (picks) in return. He said [paraphrased] "Hossa didn't owe us anything, he took a discount to come here, we owe him that" [/paraphrased] -- i'm too lazy to look it up, but it was up about 4-7 days ago (I think)

You're crazy if you think 5 guys can't score 40 goals combined (not including what Ericsson nets and Zetterberg had an off-year last year -- Zetterberg w/ Datsyuk re-united should net an extra 15-20 combined)

"Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08" -- are you suggesting Helm, Abby Leino won't be productive? Don't forget Holland wants to trade a defensemen by deadline. He'll land us more scoring...

[diehardredwing19 11]

if hudler walks, and lidstroms price goes way down next summer and im sure it will lets say to like 3 mil.... well ladies n gentlemen say hello to either jonathan toews or ILYA KOVALCHUK! its gonna happen!

[egroen 384]

There was a thread up recently from a source (mlive?) that stated that Holland gave permission to Hossa to talk to other teams without asking for anything (picks) in return. He said [paraphrased] "Hossa didn't owe us anything, he took a discount to come here, we owe him that" [/paraphrased] -- i'm too lazy to look it up, but it was up about 4-7 days ago (I think)

You're crazy if you think 5 guys can't score 40 goals combined (not including what Ericsson nets and Zetterberg had an off-year last year -- Zetterberg w/ Datsyuk re-united should net an extra 15-20 combined)

"Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08" -- are you suggesting Helm, Abby Leino won't be productive? Don't forget Holland wants to trade a defensemen by deadline. He'll land us more scoring...

And like I responded in that thread, Holland owed nothing to Hossa. Hossa was well compensated to play on a champion team and given every opportunity to succeed - which he blew.

Holland pulled a wishy-washy, 'maybe he'll still sign with us, but if he signs with one of these teams, I'll get a pick for it' -- he needed to make a decision, realize Hossa was not going to sign for pennies on the dime, and trade his exclusive negotiating rights just like Bouwmeester's.

Yes, I am suggesting Helm, Leino and Abdelkader will not be nearly as productive as Hudler (or Samuelsson, for that matter).

First: Hudler has actually produced at the NHL level -- none of them have for any sustained period.

Second: Hudler (whom is currently younger than Leino) scored 97 points in the AHL, years ago. None of them managed even close to that in the AHL in even this past year.

Edited July 8, 2009 by egroen

[Mitchmac33 103]

if hudler walks, and lidstroms price goes way down next summer and im sure it will lets say to like 3 mil.... well ladies n gentlemen say hello to either jonathan toews or ILYA KOVALCHUK! its gonna happen!

That'd be sick.

If Hudler goes to russia i think it'll be more his style and then we can sign someone else. Sign someone like Tanguay (if they could get him cheap enough) for a year and play out free agency more next year.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

lol @ the wings fan who thinks lidstrom is gonan play for $3 mill next year, are u high? i love the optimism on here. the same people who are overly optimistic and unrealistic as usual (wont name any names or anything).

[Z and D for the C 712]

And like I responded in that thread, Holland owed nothing to Hossa. Hossa was well compensated to play on a champion team and given every opportunity to succeed - which he blew.

Holland pulled a wishy-washy, 'maybe he'll still sign with us, but if he signs with one of these teams, I'll get a pick for it' -- he needed to make a decision, realize Hossa was not going to sign for pennies on the dime, and trade his exclusive negotiating rights just like Bouwmeester's.

How many goals would a 2nd or 3rd round pick have scored?

[Guest mindfly]

Not impossible that he could play for 5million - 2.45 million less than what he earns now + the cap might rise too... could be nice.